Beth Nakamura/The OregonianSalchow the hen has been trained to make small flying leaps for food, says owner Lisa Ewing (right). Kendra Hellweg offers the bird a perch.

The chirping of 70 of the cutest, fluffiest chicks you ever saw filled Pistils Nursery last Tuesday. Customers in the store on Northeast Mississippi Avenue took turns cooing over the newborn birds.

Two days later, the store was quiet again. All of the chicks had been sold.

The slow economy has egged on Portlanders' already strong do-it-yourself mentality and created an unprecedented demand for chickens, as more urbanites discover the benefits of companion animals that produce free breakfast.

More about chickens

Before you rush out and set up that coop, check with your city on what regulations it has about keeping chickens. Here are some.

Portland: You can keep up to three hens without a permit as long as they live in sanitary conditions and don't cause obnoxious smells. Permits for more hens are $30; adequate facilities are required.

Vancouver: You can keep as many hens as you like as long as they are healthy and safe and don't cause odor. No eggs can be sold without a permit.

Beaverton: Chickens are prohibited except as pets inside the house.

Hillsboro: Chickens are prohibited with this exception: You may apply for a permit if you live on a single-family one-acre lot along the floodplain or at the city's outer edges. The city is reviewing this policy; changes are not expected before 2010.

Pistils sold about 600 chicks last year, said manager Mandie Rose. This year, they're selling about twice as fast.

"So many chickens," she said. "You can't even imagine."

Other chicken suppliers around town are seeing the same trend. Linnton Feed & Seed, which caters to the rural as well as the urban egg producer, gets a shipment of about 150 chicks every week. This year, they're usually gone in a day, said Bob Gentner, an employee at the industrial Northwest Portland store.

Hatcheries are having a hard time keeping up with demand.

Dunlap Hatchery in Caldwell, Idaho, a supplier to several stores in Portland, used to take about two weeks to fill an order, said spokeswoman Angie Dunlap. Now the supplier is sold out for two months.

A one-day seminar titled "Raising City Chickens" at Portland Community College filled up so fast in the winter that two dates are available for the spring term. The Avian Medical Center in Lake Oswego had to add a second run to its "Clickin' Chicken" class, and clinic staffers say they're seeing about twice as many clients with chickens as last year.

So what makes these feathered friends so popular?

"They're fun, rewarding and easy to take care of," said Suzette Pump, who teaches the PCC seminar. "We call them 'yard fish,' they're so relaxing to watch."

Pump first got chickens so she could avoid eating eggs with hormones that she believed contributed to her mother's cancer. The battery hens that lay most mass-produced eggs are fed hormones and antibiotics to keep them productive.

Pump also considered getting meat out of the deal. To make sure she'd be able to harvest that meat, she named the chickens Fried, Roasted and Barbecued.

It didn't work.

"I still got attached," Pump remembered, laughing.

Her chickens can safely be called egg-laying pets now. Teaching a class this month, Pump talked about how excited her "ladies" get when she brings back a to-go box from a restaurant. They know they'll get treats, Pump said.

Her chickens consider themselves equals of her two fierce-looking dogs.

"When the Doberman runs up to the fence to bark, four chickens come running up behind him," Pump said.

Like life on a farm

Aside from chickens' winning personalities, they offer a window into a simpler life. That's especially appealing for parents who want to raise their children in a farmlike environment, even if they live on a single lot in the city, said Rose, the Pistils manager.

"About 75 percent of the buyers have kids," she said. "I know my daughter loves having them around."

It helps that it doesn't take a lot of investment to set up a backyard barnyard.

The chicks at Pistils -- if you can get them -- cost $5.50. Feed and other supplies run about $5 a month, give or take, Pump said in her class.

But before you run out and get chicks, make sure you know the regulations in your neighborhood and your city. No matter where in the metro area you live, one thing's for sure: no roosters.

Then, consider what kind of chicken is right for you.

Some breeds, such as White Leghorns and Golden Comets, are prolific layers, Pump said. Others lay a little less but are docile and playful pets. Australorp and Brahma chickens are examples of good playmates.

Candidate breeds

About 38 breeds are considered ideal for Oregon's climate, Ameraucana, Australorp, Brahma, Leghorn and Rhode Islands among them.

Build a good coop for the chickens or buy a pre-fab chicken home. It's important to safeguard the hens from predators at night. Solid construction and long, skinny entranceways that keep out raccoons are essential.

Store the chicken food in sealed totes so it doesn't attract vermin.

Always wash hands with soap after handling chickens to avoid the salmonella bacteria, which birds can carry in feces and which can cause gastrointestinal problems. Oregon's public health veterinarian last week confirmed two cases of salmonella infection in people who had handled chicks.

Get more than one hen. They're social animals and like company.

Give the hens enough room. A minimum of 2 square feet is required for each hen. But really, chickens need more than that. Within Portland city limits, where you can keep up to three hens without a special permit, most backyards are probably big enough for those three.

Last, but certainly not least: Give them something to do. Hens are smarter than you think and, just like dogs and cats, they are healthiest when they have something to do. Learning tricks, for example.

"If they were out on a farm and scratching for food, it'd be different," said Lisa Ewing, who teaches the "Clickin' Chicken" class in Lake Oswego. "But my girls are in a 6-by-6 run."

Being the boss

Pump, at PCC, said it's important to teach your chickens to come to you on command -- when you want to get them into the coop, when you need to examine an injury or when one strays outside your yard, for example.

That's where the training comes in. Toepick, one of Ewing's hens -- they have ice skating-themed names -- gets excited as soon as Ewing holds out a yellow ball on a long handle. The hen picks at the ball, a clicker sounds and a treat follows.

"The basic thing we teach them through food-based reward is to touch their beaks to the ball," Ewing said. "Then we can guide them across obstacles with the ball."

Sure enough, Zamboni, a beautiful Bantam, strides across a little arched bridge in pursuit of the yellow ball and the accompanying treat.

Salchow, a Silver Sebright, ups the ante for her fellow trainees: She flies across the room, from one person's arm to another's, to get her treat.

Ewing said she's watched her hens come up with little games in the backyard after training sessions.

"Seeing that they can do all these things gives people respect for their chickens," she said. "We're really only limited by the number of things we can come up with for them to do."